How dirty are you?

May 13, 2011

How dirty are you? Are you really filthy or do you tidy up every speck of muck as you go along?

I’m talking about writing a first draft, of course. 🙂

The end of this week sees me closing in on finishing a ‘dirty’ draft of my current book, Miranda.

I don’t know who coined the term ‘dirty draft’ but since I heard of the concept, I like it a lot. I suppose, in my case, it means that I’ve got x number or words down on the page with a plot, story arc and characters developed. (I think Julie Cohen calls it a discovery draft)

It’s the RNA Summer Party on Wednesday and I’m using that as a watershed moment to stop writing this first draft and take a breather. When I used to write books on my main computer, I’d print off every scene I wrote and tinker with it until it was perfect.

The laptop doesn’t have a printer and that’s left me free to just write the story without worrying about the details until the end. Because you can fix 300 dodgy pages far more easily than 300 blank ones.

So hopefully, by the end of next week, I can email the draft to the big PC and start printing it out so I can read it. And then I’ll probably cry when I see how much there is to do. 😉

A lot of the scenes are down on the page in detail, but others will need much greater development. I know I’ll want to write new scenes and I’ll probably have to kill off some of my darlings – scenes and lines I love but don’t further the plot or character development. And I’m almost certain I need to torture the hero and heroine a lot more.

I know I may have to do some major rewriting – and that’s before I show my agent.

Do you write a ‘dirty draft’? Or do you have a detailed plan first and prefer to get each chapter finished before you move forward?

Comments

1. On May 13th, 2011 at 4:43 am
   Rachel Lyndhurst Says:
   

   I have a detailed plan. I finish writing the book, having reread every single chapter as I go along. I read it through obsessively a few times. I put it aside for a couple of weeks. I get it out and obsess some more. I realise it’s a very dirty draft …

   See you at the party!!!!

2. On May 13th, 2011 at 4:53 am
   Nell Dixon Says:
   

   I write into the ether. I write a chapter, send it to my cp, the fabby Kimberly Menozzi, she makes suggestions. I tidy it up and stick it in another file which I don’t look at until the first draft is done. Then I read it as a whole for the first time.

3. On May 13th, 2011 at 4:53 am
   Heidi Rice Says:
   

   Having read your analysis Phillipa I’ve discovered I’m completely filthy!! My dirty draft is so dirty it often needs a lot of cleaning and polishing, but it’s also a voyage of discovery, and I don;t mind getting my hands covered in muck (most of which will eventually be washed down the drain) to find the pearls.

   See you at the party too!

4. On May 13th, 2011 at 5:14 am
   Phillipa Says:
   

   Just writing this post and reading your responses has made me realise that I need to torment my heroine far more.

   I need to give her what she wants most n the world and then snatch it away from her. That’s one of the key things making this draft dirty – it needs MORE emotion and more at stake.

   I’m a cruel b*tch and I love it!

5. On May 13th, 2011 at 5:21 am
   Julie Cohen Says:
   

   I write a very dirty first draft. I don’t even show most of it to anyone else any more (though I used to). I have a post-it on my computer that says WRITE CRAP, to remind me that I should just write a crappy first draft and turn off my internal editor until it comes to the revision stage.

   Sometimes, it works. Right now, I’m putting off working on my dirty draft, because I’ve just completed copy edits on a lovely, polished, coherent manuscript that makes total sense. The WIP seems wayyyyy too dirty, and it’s a bit depressing.

   So thanks for this reminder to get down and dirty!

6. On May 13th, 2011 at 5:26 am
   Talli Roland Says:
   

   My first drafts are embarrassingly bad, but I always enjoy writing them (well, almost always). It’s the edits that do my head in.

7. On May 13th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
   Sue Welfare Says:
   

   I plan a lot, both in my head and in scribbled ideas in notebooks – writing is the *last* thing I do – and then when I *do* write, I write freely with a ‘don’t get it right, get it written’ frame of mind. So mine’s definitely deep down dirty but broadly in the right area. If that makes sense!

   I love the reshaping and editing process, which I do as I go along – mostly every morning when I go through what I’ve written the day before – but then redo when I get to end. So yup dirty but happy xx

8. On May 14th, 2011 at 10:37 am
   Sally Clements Says:
   

   I write like a mad thing and when I’ve finished the whole thing go back and rewrite it. I usually have to layer in stuff. But it’s dirty during the first draft for sure! Will be looking out for you on Wed!

9. On May 16th, 2011 at 4:02 am
   Phillipa Says:
   

   I’m fascinated by all the different approaches to getting a book produced. It seems most of us write a dirty draft first (In Rachel’s case, a very dirty draft!)

   Michelle Styles told me recently to ‘respect my creative process’ – well, I find that hard because my ‘process’ seems nothing like a process at all and more like a falling through the air and hoping to land upright with everything intact.

   Sally, Rachel and Heidi – look forward to seeing you on Weds. Nell and I are arriving mob handed from the Midlands. 🙂

10. On May 16th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
    Stevie Carroll Says:
    

    I tend to start writing and keep going without thinking too hard until my ‘zero draft’ is finished. Then I go back and start trying to fix everything.